Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer when it comes to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and more projects are to be developed through this model, Pooja Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer of Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board said.“In Tamil Nadu, PPPs are not new. For instance, the Minjur desalination plant is one of the oldest project executed through the PPP model,” she said while speaking at Infra Next 2025 – ‘PPP 2.0: Powering Tamil Nadu’s Infrastructure Transformation,” organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).Ms. Kulkarni explained that Tamil Nadu has been concentrating on sectors, including industry, energy, urban services and tourism. “On the energy side you will see a number of projects getting developed, exclusively through the PPP space – this includes small projects… also primarily on the renewable energy space,” she pointed out.“Chennai is witnessing an unprecedented infrastructure development. The proposed new bus terminus, Outer Ring Road (ORR), Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) projects, redevelopment of bus depots across Tamil Nadu, and a lot of other urban development projects are coming up in Chennai. PPP is very important in streamlining and implementing these development projects,” said A. Shankar, India Head - Government Advisory and Infrastructure Solutions, JLL India and Convenor – Infrastructure Panel, CII Chennai Zone.A white paper on ‘Innovations in Public Private Partnership’ was released during the inaugural session.Ajit Chordia, Chairman, CII Chennai Zone and Managing Director of Olympia Group India said, “Public-Private Partnerships have emerged as the most effective tool to unlock potential. By blending the government’s vision with innovation and efficiency of the private sector, PPPs allow us to create infrastructure that is both impactful and sustainable. Importantly, they enable the government to unlock the value of existing assets without putting additional strain on public capital.”Mohamed Ali, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (Credai), Chennai, said, “Today, Tamil Nadu contributes over $400 billion to India’s GDP, and our vision — aligned with the State’s roadmap and India’s 2047 vision, Viksit Bharat — is to multiply this many times over. “Published - August 23, 2025 12:45 am IST